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It’s a 7 percentage-point increase compared to the 51 percent of Americans who were concerned a great deal or a fair amount about global warming in 2011 and is up slightly from the 55 percent last year.

“Americans’ concerns about global warming peaked at points in the late 1980s and the late 1990s, and again between 2006 and 2008, possibly related to strong environmentalist campaigns to raise awareness of the issue at those times — including the release of Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ in 2006,” Gallup’s Lydia Saad wrote.

Saad continued: “Conversely, concerns receded in 2009 and 2010, particularly among Republicans and conservatives, corresponding with a flurry of publicity about scientists who doubt global warming is caused by human activities, as well as some controversy about global warming research. With all of this dying down somewhat in the last few years, attitudes are returning to previous levels, putting them near the long-term averages.”

The poll was conducted by telephone with 1,022 U.S. adults from March 7 to March 10, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.